Bollywood Meets Cricket: Shah Rukh Khan Joins ICC World Cup 2023 Promo, Fans Ecstatic!

On July 20, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the first promo for the upcoming ICC Men's World Cup 2023, and it features the Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. The ICC took to Twitter to unveil the new campaign with the caption, "History will be written and dreams will be realized at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. All it takes is just one day." The promotional video also includes appearances from renowned cricketers such as JP Duminy, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, current World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jonty Rhodes, and Jemimah Rodrigues. Fans are reacting enthusiastically to this exciting collaboration.

Taking to Twitter, ICC dropped unveiled the news campaign and wrote, “History will be written and dreams will be realised at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 All it takes is just one day.”

The 2-minute, 13-second video showcased a montage of memorable visuals from previous World Cup matches, narrated by King Khan. At the end of the video, the ‘Chak De India' actor appears with the coveted Cricket World Cup 2023 trophy, and said, "For everything ever dreamed for, pushed for, lived for, it takes one day."

Soon after the ICC dropped the video, fans flooded the comment section with red hearts and fire emoticons.

“KING KHAN IN THE BUILDING,” a fan wrote.

Another fan commented, “#ShahRukhKhan Representing India at Global level.”

“Chak De! India theme playing in our mind,” a user wrote.

The video also featured renowned cricketers like  JP Duminy, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, current World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jonty Rhodes and Jemimah Rodrigues.

According to the ICC release, the campaign displays the journey of raw emotions experienced by both players and fans collectively over One Day, with the film connecting the nine ‘Navarasa' emotions - anguish, bravery, glory, joy, passion, power, pride, respect and wonder - and explores how it takes one day to experience this rollercoaster.

ICC CEO Geoff Allardice was thrilled to launch the campaign and is eagerly awaiting the commencement of the World Cup in Ahmedabad on October 5.

“This campaign is a true celebration of One Day International cricket and builds a sense of anticipation of what we can expect when the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 returns to India. The emotions, or Navarasa, are felt by fans and players alike during One Day and this campaign brings to life that shared experience," Allardice said.

“Cricket and cinema are at the heart of Indian psyche, and we've infused the two to create appeal far and wide. The involvement of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan together with an exceptional line-up of cricketers will only help us deepen our connect in this country, while captivating the attention worldwide,” as per ICC release.

The opening match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, featuring defending champions England and runner-up New Zealand, is set to commence on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Ten teams will feature in this biggest Cricket World Cup ever, to be played across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The event will feature 48 matches to be played across 46 days.

India's World Cup campaign will begin with a match against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.

The venues other than Ahmedabad and Chennai are Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. While Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will join Hyderabad in hosting the practice games.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will square off at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Eight teams have qualified for the 46-day event through the Cricket World Cup Super League while the final two spots were decided by the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier taking place in Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka and Netherlands grabbed the two final spots in the tournament.

The tournament retains the round-robin format of last time with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches. There are six-day matches that will start at 10 30 Indian Standard Time (IST) while all other matches, including the knockouts, will be day-night fixtures starting at 14 00 IST.

The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, to be played in Mumbai on 15 November and in Kolkata on 16 November. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.